Theater Review: Even with its flaws, 'Race' at Cap Rep is better than most

ALBANY - "Race," playing at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany through Feb. 12, is a funny and mildly provocative piece of theater.

It's typical David Mamet fare in that it is not afraid to have fun with sensitive subjects like race and guilt, betrayal and sex. It's filled with coarse language that, when delivered as correctly as it is at Capital Rep, can sound like hustlers reciting poetry. The plot has twists, turns and even a couple of red herrings.

If Agatha Christie were a hip cynic who knew how to write a funny line, she might have written a play like "Race."

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However, while "Race" is a play that shows Mamet is a master craftsman who can generate any audience response he desires, it lacks the substance that usually elevates his plays beyond the ordinary.

Somehow the play seems out of date and it might be more sensitive were it set in the '60s rather than the present.

Even with those flaws, Mamet is better than many other playwrights' best works.

"Race" is a solid 90-minutes of cat and mouse games between two hot- shot lawyers, their wealthy client and a young ambitious law clerk.

Jack Lawson is white and has a superior sense of himself and his legal skills. His partner Henry Brown is black and a hard-nose realist. Susan, their law clerk, is an overachieving, overeducated young black women. The client is an older, privileged white man who is accused of raping a black woman.

All make for easy targets for Mamet, as he comically skewers the legal profession, the justice system, juries, racial hypocrisy and the guilt that comes trying to be politically correct in a racist society.

While intriguing fun, there is a problem with the storytelling. Mamet's plot contrivances are just too contrived and the characters seldom seem authentic. It's one of those plays in which things happen simply because the playwright wants them to happen.

Indeed, there is a feeling of recycling with the work. Remove the client and the play bears a strong resemblance to his "Speed the Plow," in which an enigmatic young woman alters the relationship between two cool guys.

With "Race," Mamet seems not to have learned that enigmatic is not a substitute for genuine motivation.

Despite a wary sense of dissatisfaction at play's end, you probably won't be bothered by the its flaws because the production is so good.

Director Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill has her cast drive the play so that Mamet's sleight-of-hand is compelling. She finds the theatricality of the piece as she nurses every bit of comedy from the material without neglecting the drama of people who are playing for high stakes.

The work of the cast is especially commendable because they are playing types as much as they are creating people with an inner-life.

J. Anthony Crane establishes Jack as a cynic of the first order, yet the actor is able to hint that the hotshot lawyer really does care about the innocence of his client as much as he wants to win at any cost. Crane does a nice job humanizing an aloof individual.

Kevin Craig West shows a flair for delivering a comic line as he garners the most laughs of the night. West creates a man who is a realist and he finds humor in exposing the wishful thinking of others who lie to themselves as much as they do to others.

Both actors are very good at defining themselves, but there is no strong feeling of closeness that might suggest they are opposite sides of the same coin.

Shelly Thomas has a similar problem in defining a character who cannot and should not be defined. She is either a loyal aide or a devious seductress, and it is a tribute to Thomas's skill that she is either one as needed.

The client Charles Strickland is burdened with the same duality about his guilt or innocence. Wynn Harmon excels in creating a character who is distant from the others, yet is disturbed by their ambiguous feelings towards his plight.

"Race" is a very good production of an entertaining play that will provoke you without making you uncomfortable.